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HISTORY OF THE JAMES RIVER GHOST FLEET

The Virginian-Pilot

VIRGINIA, USA,7 April 2002 --

1925: The Ghost Fleet is born as the U.S. government anchors excess merchant marine and military support vessels off Fort Eustis.

1950: The fleet hits a peak of 800 ships.

1954: U.S. Department of Agriculture stores millions of tons of surplus grain on 112 reserve ships. 1960: After years of public auctions, fleet shrinks to 300.

1970: Government considers using ships as floating factories, jails or bomb shelters.

1973: Virginia sinks six ships off its coast as fishing reefs.

1980s: U.S. environmental regulations push ship-scrapping to foreign countries.

1995: EPA enacts new rules requiring toxic PCBs to be removed from ships, stopping almost all overseas scrapping.

1998: Vice President Al Gore announces temporary ban on exporting reserve ships for scrap.

Sept. '98: Oil spill in the James from the Export Challenger draws scrutiny of Coast Guard and state regulators.

2000: Clinton administration approves $10 million to pay American shipyards to start scrapping reserve ships; six removed from Ghost Fleet.

Aug. 2000: About 1,000 gallons of heavy fuel escapes from the ex-USS Donner, the largest reported spill in the Ghost Fleet.

Sept. 2000: In response, Virginia regulators cite Maritime Administration for pollution violation.

2001: Congress sets deadline of2006 to get rid of obsolete ships; no new money approved.

2002: President Bush requests $11 million to scrap ships. Budget to be finalized in fall.

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